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* Jump to Content KCM announces plans to build copper
KCM announces plans to build copper plant
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Tue 02 Feb. 2010, 04:00 CAT [86 Reads, 0 Comment(s)]
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KONKOLA Copper Mines (KCM) has announced plans to invest US $170 million to build a copper plant with a capacity to process 12 million tonnes of refractory ore per annum.
According to Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) submitted to the Environmental Council of Zambia (ECZ), KCM stated that the new plant would be located near its Nchanga mines in Chingola.
"The proposed project will be a stand-alone hydrometallurgical plant with its own support facilities such as crushing, milling, electro-winning, residual neutralisation and disposal," KCM stated in the EIS.
KCM is the biggest mining company in the country with operations in Konkola, Nchanga and Nampundwe, with ore processing plants in Konkola and Nchanga.
The mining firm last year commissioned a state-of-the art copper smelter in Nchanga with a capacity of 300,000 tonnes per annum.
The company was also developing the over US $500 million Konkola Deep Mining Project.
During the December quarter, KCM produced around 42,000 tonnes of copper cathodes compared to 25,000 tonnes in the corresponding quarter last year as a result of ramp up of the new Nchanga smelter.
KCM is expected to mine more than 500,000 tonnes of finished copper cathodes by next year, half of the projected Zambia’s output of one million tonnes of finished copper.